Washington State Department of Ecology
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19
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14
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 19 mentions across 14 episodes found for "Washington State Department of Ecology".
Sep 24, 2026
John RyanCORRESPONDENT
The alliance of mayors and governors was announced at Climate Week in New York.
John RyanCORRESPONDENT
Casey Sixkiller is head of the Washington Department of Ecology.
Casey SixkillerSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Even at a time where the federal government seems to be looking the other way, about the impacts of climate change and the need for action, states and local governments are continuing to press forward.
John RyanCORRESPONDENT
Climate Week is running in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly meeting.
Steve StocktonHOST
The town was gripped by a localized epidemic that seemed to have literally fallen from the sky.
Steve StocktonHOST
Seeking answers, Sunny Barkcliffe took a sample of substance to a local doctor who then passed it on to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Steve StocktonHOST
This is where the story shifts from strange weather to defying logic.
Steve StocktonHOST
A microbiologist named David Rice examined the substance and found something that should not have been there.
Paige BrowningHOST
The TransAlta plant in Centralia was shuttered in December, and since then, the Trump administration has ordered the coal-burning plant to stay open.
Paige BrowningHOST
The Washington Department of Ecology supports a transition to gas while environmental groups are fighting it.
Paige BrowningHOST
Caitlin Cren is with Washington Conservation Action.
Caitlin CrenSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Action.When federal government's basically doing everything it can to reverse climate policy at the federal level, we can't be fast-tracking basically the first new fossil fuel power plants in decades in our state.
Meredith PetilloGUEST
Absolutely.
Meredith PetilloGUEST
I think that there are some really great, you know, FDA adjacent anecdotes that we can can share, you know, some recent conversations with Washington State Department of Ecology.
Meredith PetilloGUEST
And just before we move into that, because there's some really good.
Meredith PetilloGUEST
info to dig into.
Meredith PetilloGUEST
Um, and so it's just, you know, Claire mentioned the patchwork and this just increasing volume of state activity.
Meredith PetilloGUEST
Um, so there are a couple of things out of Washington that are very recent, one being their updates on, so they had passed a state level law, Washington legislature had passed the toxic free cosmetic act.
Meredith PetilloGUEST
The Washington state department of ecology is now tasked with implementation and, and enforcement of, of the law.
Meredith PetilloGUEST
Um, It included a restriction on lead set at one part per million.
Steve StocktonHOST
The town was gripped by a localized epidemic that seemed to have literally fallen from the sky.
Steve StocktonHOST
Seeking answers, Sunny Barkcliffe took a sample of substance to a local doctor who then passed it on to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Steve StocktonHOST
This is where the story shifts from strange weather to defying logic.
Steve StocktonHOST
A microbiologist name of David Rice examined the substance and found something that should not have been there.
Elaine O'NeillGUEST
And then there was also protections.
Elaine O'NeillGUEST
Um, the federal Clean Water Act is managed in this state by the Department of Ecology, but it's a federal law, the Clean Water Act.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
Yeah.
Elaine O'NeillGUEST
And so we got Clean Water Act assurances with this, and we got protection for endangered species.
Elaine O'NeillGUEST
So we're doing this science work, and it's collaborative, and it's cons- well, it's consensus-based, and, and it's a little bit tense and tricky.
Elaine O'NeillGUEST
I mean, there's lots of stuff going on there.
Elaine O'NeillGUEST
So in about 2019, that whole system started to fall apart because the Department of Ecology, which participates, comes in and says, "Hey, we see this temperature change in these high-elevation stands." And we were talking up above where fish are, which means not just above salmon but above where you would find sculpins and mud minnows and any kinda freshwater trout, up above that.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
Right.
Daisy EganHOST
Initially, the organization refused requests to investigate the origin and composition of the gelatinous blobs plaguing Oakville and its animals and residents.
Daisy EganHOST
Meanwhile, Paulsen and Barkliffe were still on the case, and after some persistence, the Department of Ecology and the State Health Department agreed to do some investigating.
Daisy EganHOST
According to a piece in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from August 28th, 1994, Mike Osweiler, a state hazardous material official, said they found, quote, "a number of cells of various sizes in the blobs, but what kind of creature the cells came from is still uncertain," end quote.
Daisy EganHOST
Apparently, there were two different types of bacteria found, though neither were considered harmful to humans.
David JensenGUEST
The treatment plants have...
David JensenGUEST
Since I've been doing this even, the Department of Ecology and other government agencies, most of them are outfalls into the Sound, the Duwamish, into a river that goes into the Sound.
David JensenGUEST
The Sound has been a constant concern of pollution and everything in there.
David JensenGUEST
So what they've had to do is they've had to treat a redo of like the Renton sewer treatment plant when they built that or Brightwater.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
They were probably actually providing a benefit, if nothing else.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
But somehow, folks, the Washington State Department of Ecology decide that they are destroying rare protected alkali wetlands, and they build this whole ridiculous case based on it.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
They begin enforcement actions.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
They begin fines.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
Innocent until proven guilty.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
That's another bedrock concept here.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
which doesn't seem to apparently apply in the mind of the Washington State Department of Ecology, as well as the Washington State Attorney General's Office.
Dylan HonkoopHOST
Of course, I think this started back in the Bob Ferguson as Attorney General days.
4 more episodes mention Washington State Department of Ecology.
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